Book Title: THE VISCOUNT WHO VEXED ME Character Name: Emma Clark, Lady Dearborn   How would you describe your family or your childhood? Lovely. My sister Fanny and I spent many idyllic years in the countryside before we entered society. I was a bit wilder, and Fanny wiser, but we complimented each other in that way. We carried on until it was necessary to be singularly focused on finding the perfect match, because what else is a young woman of a certain age to do? It’s a daunting task when you think of it, determining who will be your lifelong partner with only a few conversations in the company of parents or chaperones. What was your greatest talent? One I discovered after I’d married. I don’t mean to boast, but I am very good at hosting parties. Garden parties, teas, balls—whatever social gathering you can imagine, I excel at putting together all the necessary ingredients—drinks, entertainment, guests—to guarantee a spectacular event. Significant other? I suppose you mean my husband, Lord Dearborn. I would not like to disparage him, but he was neither as handsome nor as dashing as Mr. Olivien, the Weslorian earl who came to call one day, quite…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE DUKE NOT TAKEN 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A sunshine princess who is a “problem” because she’s not married and likes to have a good time seeks a suitable marriage match who is anyone other than the grumpy duke next door. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The English countryside is perfect for crazy princesses and brooding dukes! 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! She is a take-no-prisoners kind of gal. I think she’d be a blast. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Impossible. Infuriating. Intoxicating. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I was reminded of how limited education was for girls past a certain age in Victorian England. They knew how to read and write and do sums, but then the education turned to cooking and sewing and if you were lucky, music and art. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I edit as I go, but then I go back and do a full edit before I submit it to my editor 8–What’s your…

With the re-issue of Julia London’s bestselling historical regency romance series, The Desperate Debutantes, we wanted to revisit the women of the Fairchild family before the release of THE PERILS OF PURSUING A PRINCE (6/28). When the young ladies of the Fairchild family learn their stepfather has absconded with their late mother’s money, instead of letting fate come to them, they take matters into their own hands.   Which Fairchild is most likely to dance until dawn? Ava! (The Hazards of Hunting a Duke, available now). Ava always knew the key to maintaining her standard of living was to seduce men on a dance floor at a fancy ball with the whole ton watching.   Most likely to bail on a social engagement? Phoebe (The Dangers of Deceiving a Viscount, 11/29) Phoebe is painfully shy and would rather fade into the woodwork. Better yet, she would rather come up with a vague conflict at the last possible minute.   Most likely to gain an offer of marriage? Ava (Hazards). In fact, she gained several before she found out she was broke. In hindsight, she recognizes it might have been easier to have taken one she had in hand, but live…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Julia London! Writes: I write historical romance and contemporary romance with equal enthusiasm! The Princess Plan is the start of a brand new series set in Victorian London. The Devil in the Saddle is the second book in my Princes of Texas series. About: I’m a little bit charwoman and a little bit queen. I love dogs and princes in equal measure and not necessarily in that order. My favorite pastimes include dressing up in fancy gowns, attending balls in my head, and gossiping with my friends and sister. I follow all the royal news because you never know when a prince may become available. When I am not reading up on all the details of a royal wedding, I am willing and able to stick my nose into unusual situations, like, say, a murder. Seeking a prince with a big castle, lots of servants, and an undying eagerness to keep me warm at nights. What I’m looking for in my…

We’re chatting about high school, house renovations, and of course, new books with bestselling author Julia London and Editorial Manager Danielle Dresser! Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Julia! Please tell us about your brand-new series, the Princes of Texas, and book 1, The Charmer in Chaps. It’s about the Prince family, which is a happy cross between the Ewings of Dallas and maybe the Clampetts of Beverly Hillbillies (I think we need a reboot of that one). Anyway, the Prince family is legendary in Texas with an enormous ranch along the lines of the King Ranch. But they fall on hard times, no thanks to Dad’s horrible big-stakes gambling problem, and suddenly find themselves having to figure out life without all the trappings of wealth. In The Charmer in Chaps, Luca is the one they call a bunny hugger. He wants to preserve some of the land before they strip it of all the character it had. But he’s going to have to figure it out on his own, and without any help from his family. And he’s got some personal issues that are going to make figuring it out on his own especially difficult. It’s the sort of issue that…

  Kyra opened the fridge, got a beer, and popped the top, unthinkingly taking a deep drink while she pondered her neighbor. Really, had she thanked him enough for the new hinge? Sure, she’d said thanks, but she really ought to thank him. Okay, she was not going to do that—she was not going to find an excuse to go over there and bother that man. Or was she? Because it wasn’t the worst thing to be neighborly and say thank you. Enough. She’d already sort of said thank you, and to say thank you now would be . . . flirty. Yep, flirty. And she was not the flirty type, even though Deenie had urged her to be more flirty. “You have to at least try,” she’d said one afternoon at the bistro when an older guy who smelled like cigars and sweat was hitting on Kyra. “You’ll make better tips. And are you really going to wait until you’re, like, forty before you date again? Because that’s too late. You’re practically done by then.” Forty did sound a little too late to reenter the dating scene. Ruby would be eighteen when Kyra was forty. Kyra could well imagine…

Julia London‘s latest title, THE TROUBLE WITH HONOR, is available today. To get you started, here is a little sampling of this sexy and scandalous historical read. THE TROUBLE WITH HONOR Desperate times call for daring measures as Honor Cabot, the eldest stepdaughter of the wealthy Earl of Beckington, awaits her family’s ruin. Upon the earl’s death she and her sisters stand to lose the luxury of their grand home—and their place on the pedestal of society—to their stepbrother and his social-climbing fiancée. Forced to act quickly, Honor makes a devil’s bargain with the only rogue in London who can seduce her stepbrother’s fiancée out of the Cabots’ lives for good. An illegitimate son of a duke, George Easton was born of scandal and grows his fortune through dangerous risks. But now he and Honor are dabbling in a perilous dance of seduction that puts her reputation and his jaded heart on the line. And as unexpected desire threatens to change the rules of their secret game, the stakes may become too high even for a notorious gambler and a determined, free-spirited debutante to handle. Join us for Tea with Julia Excerpt The trouble began in the spring of 1812,…

Tell us a little bit about your newest novel, A LIGHT AT WINTER’S END. This is the third book set in Cedar Springs, following SUMMER OF TWO WISHES and ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE. In this book, Hannah Drake has always done everything right: getting married, having a baby, caring for her mother in her final days, all the while performing impeccably in a high-level job. Her sister Holly Fisher is the college dropout, the one who works at a coffee shop and wants to be a songwriter. Then one day perfect Hannah suddenly—without explanation—leaves her baby with Holly and disappears. Holly takes little Mason to the empty family homestead, where she can stay while she figures out how to take care of a baby and what to do with this sudden change in her life. It is there she meets Wyatt Clark, a close-mouthed, handsome cowboy who is mysteriously good with babies. And then, just as Holly can no longer imagine her life without either Mason or Wyatt, Hannah returns for her son. Wyatt Clark was first introduced in SUMMER OF TWO WISHES, where his wife’s soldier husband literally came back from the dead, and she was forced to choose…

Writers are readers, first and foremost, and I know a lot of my romance-writing pals read romance for pleasure. I used to read romance for pleasure, but when you write romance all day, it can be sort of a stretch to try and relax with one. That’s not to say I never read it—of course I do—but I don’t read it like I used to. For BOOK OF SCANDAL, my latest release (in stores now), I read a couple of riveting biographies. You would think it really dry reading, but if you are into the regency period like I am, sometimes those books can read like the People Magazine of its time. There was some down and dirty goings-on! The first book I read, The Princesses, by Flora Fraser, was about the six daughters of King George III. I didn’t even know he had six daughters. They were strictly monitored and kept close to the king and queen so as not to gain reputations—while their seven brothers were out gallivanting around and being accused of all sorts of things: adultery, secret marriages, incest, and even murder. Moreover, the king and queen were pretty picky about who they would marry their…

Ah, this business! You plug along for years, putting out book after book, hoping that your small group of readers will grow into a group large enough that you might actually pay the mortgage. You plod along at a steady pace, building slowly, while other authors evolve at lightning speed. Nothing happens for years, and then suddenly, out of the blue, your books start to sell well. Print runs go up. Your publisher tells you that they are going to do more to promote your books. Your agent pumps you up and tells you you’re becoming a Big Deal, and you get all excited, even though you know she says that to all her clients. They approach you about doing a tie-in novel to a soap opera. A what? you cry, but you do it, because you’re no fool. And then one day it happens. You’re in a bookstore, talking with the bookseller whom you’ve known for years. When another customer approaches, you walk away to peruse the stacks, and you hear that customer say, “That’s Julia London? Ohmigod! Ohmigod!” You are so glad you put on some make up and changed out of godawful linen pants you’ve worn all…